2006 Craigellachie 12 Year Old "Sovereign" K&L Exclusive Single Sherry Butt Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Every year the biggest struggle we have when selecting casks isn't necessarily finding ultra-rare casks. If we're willing to pay for them, the diamonds are there. What's much more difficult to find are the affordable sherried malts from good distilleries. Last year we smashed things up with an absolutely stellar Aultmore. This year we've got a few replacements, one of them being this incredible cask of Craigellachie. While it doesn't have the inky, nearly bitter extraction that the Aultmore had, there might not be a better sherried whisky available for this price anywhere. Craigellachie is a workhorse whisky, but its stalwart quality is well known to blenders. Sitting on the hill directly across from Macallan, just a short trip over the River Spey, Craigellachie was never sold as a single malt because Dewar’s was too lucrative to spend time selling single malt. There's no visitor’s center or other fanfare but those who know this special distillery grow to love it. In 2014, the distillery finally released an OB. Long before those well-received bottles appeared on the scene, the malt was well-regarded by Independent Bottlers, especially when aged in sherry casks. The rich malty character and deep waxy fruit are perfectly balanced by the roasted nutty flavors of this sherry butt. No question, this will be up there as one of the best values we'll have to offer in malts all year, maybe ever. An absolute must-try by any measure. Those who know best are bunkering this bad boy.